Kalam on Afzal: Law will be supreme

New Delhi: President APJ Abdul Kalam on Sunday said all necessary judicial and other processes of India would be adhered to in deciding the clemency plea of Parliament Attack case accused Mohammed Afzal Guru.

On his way back to Delhi at the end of his five-day visit to Europe, President Kalam told accompanying journalists on board the special Air-India plane that when European Parliament President raised the Afzal issue with him during their meeting, he told Hans-Gert Pottering that the clemency for Guru would be decided on only after the legal procedures were completed.

Kalam had addressed the European MPs and made a state visit to Greece during his five-day tour.

CLEMENCY OR NOT? There was a protest outside European Parliament by a group seeking clemency for Afzal when Kalam addressed the House.

Asked if there was any pressure from the European Parliament on granting clemency to Guru, Kalam said: "They did not pressurise or anything. They raised the issue. In fact, the European Parliament President raised the issue during a one-to-one meeting and I said the law of the land will be supreme."

"Any judgment as per the law of the country will be processed and carried out. Law is the final authority," PTI quoted Kalam as saying on Saturday night. Kalam was returning to Delhi from Athens.

Asked about clemency powers vested in the President, he said: "Once it comes to me, I will take care of it." The mercy petition of Afzal Guru is currently being examined by the government.

There was a minor protest outside the European Parliament in Strasbourg by a group seeking clemency for Guru when Kalam addressed the House on April 25. Asked about 22 other clemency petitions pending with the President's Secretariat, Kalam said: "They are at various stages and with various wings of the government."